Monday, November 10, 2008

I'm a sucker for holidays, especially the cold ones. There's something about the crisp weather that makes me excitable. And of course the food. No fall holiday is complete without the food. So here at Eclipse we're gearing up to celebrate our Thanksgiving Dinner a full week early!

I've done a lot of recipe testing for our next Prix Fixe Chocolate Tasting Dinner, and those who came to our Anniversary Party had a taste of what's to come. Among the truffles and wine and other chocolate-goodies, we sampled our Savory Bread Pudding with Dark Chocolate Jus.

As I have said time and time again, I am a big fan of bread pudding... and the heavier the better. I must admit, though, for the dozen-or-so bread puddings that have been featured here, I have yet to step outside of the box and go savory on one of them. I know what you're thinking "Stepping outside of box is so a problem Will has when it comes to food". Well this time it was different.

Each Seasonal Dessert Tasting Platter we feature has a bread pudding as one of the four desserts, and since it rotates each six weeks... well it's been a lot of bread pudding. This time, however, I uncovered a savory concept of this favorite to feature at our next dinner: Autumn Harvest. Bound with all heavy cream and eggs instead of meat stock, it's pretty much Thanksgiving dressing on crack. My version showcases a sauteed veggie mixture common to dressing, but is punctuated with the addition of morels and dates. The extravagance of the morels adds a woody aroma and texture that isn't far from the dressing my grandmother used to make with turkey giblets, but of course mine remains vegetarian. It's pretty much the best of both worlds.

The finished plating is dressed with a dark chocolate jus made from an intense beef reduction and, of course, an extra brute cocoa for body and flavor. We have a roasted veggie-cocoa sauce to keep the experience truly vegetarian, as many of our clients prefer such. The remainder of the dinner looks like this:

Will from Eclipse Chocolat

About Me

Will Gustwiller is the owner and head chocolatier of the San Diego-based Eclipse Chocolat. Established in 2004, Eclipse specializes in creating exotic chocolate infusions in truffles, solid bars, and other exciting confections. Eclipse strives to expand the boundaries of chocolate flavors while operating in an eco-friendly manner and donating 10% of its annual net profit to the the development of local and regional non-profits and charities.